The Planning Assessment Commission would be history, if
the NSW Minerals Industry Taskforce's recommendations are
accepted.

The NSW Minerals Industry Taskforce has issued a draft report
calling for the removal of the Planning Assessment Commission
(PAC) and other radical regulatory financial
measures, with a view to reigniting and sustaining the development
of the minerals industry in NSW.

The Taskforce was appointed by the NSW Minister for Resources
and Energy primarily from the resources industry, and is one of
eight industry taskforces 1 formed to prepare 10 year
action plans outlining:

the issues raised by industry and what industry leaders believe
needs to be done to continue to grow their sector domestically and
overseas; and

recommendations for action by Government, industry players and
research institutions.

The Government intends that, once the action plans are adopted,
priority actions will be tracked and performance will be reported
at an annual Business Leadership Forum.

The NSW Government released the Taskforce's draft Action
Plan (dated October 2014), in late November. It proposes a 25 year
strategy with 12 recommendations for urgent action. Public
submissions are invited until Friday 19 December.

Remove or reduce the PAC

According to the draft Action Plan, "the single most
important initiative that the NSW Government can take to support
the development of the industry is to provide greater certainty,
transparency and timeliness to the planning and regulatory
decision-making regime".

The Taskforce's primary concerns are that the PAC members
are not elected, so they are not accountable in the same way as
ministers are, and they are established to operate independently of
Government policy, so there is limited transparency and certainty
in decision-making.

The Taskforce also notes that "NSW is the only jurisdiction
in Australia where major projects are often approved by an
independent body, not the relevant minister". The PAC
determines most State significant project development applications,
under delegated authority from the Minister for Planning.

The Taskforce's primary recommendation is that the relevant
minister hold decision-making power for approvals for major
projects, so that the Government is accountable for project
approval decisions. Consequently, it recommends that the PAC be
abolished, or that its role be limited to an advisory one. Even
then, the Taskforce views the PAC as unnecessary, given that the
Department of Planning and Environment provides a comprehensive
assessment of major project applications.

It will be interesting to see how the Government responds to
this recommendation, given that the Minister for Planning delegated
decision-making authority to the PAC in order to de-politicise
decisions, but the PAC has come under fire recently for decisions
in relation to some mining projects.

Other recommendations on the regulatory system

The Taskforce's other recommendations on the regulatory
system for mining exploration and production include:

establishing a lead agency to drive cross-agency decisions
within agreed time-frames;

streamlining the decision-making processes for exploration and
mining activity and addressing policy gaps, with an emphasis on
risk-based regulation (to reduce process and time frames) and
provision of greater certainty in approach (as an example, the
Taskforce proposed a broader power to modify planning approvals for
mining);

demonstrating excellence in service delivery for, and
regulation of, the resources sector;

communicating more clearly the comprehensiveness and robustness
of the NSW regulatory regime; and

continuing to improve community engagement in the mining
assessment process.

Recommendations for fiscal certainty

In order to reduce the financial burden on the NSW, the
Taskforce recommends that:

current royalty rates be held for 25 years to create greater
security; and

the current list of overall fees and levies be consolidated and
reduced in real terms over time.

Developing skills and providing supporting infrastructure

The Taskforce recommends that the NSW Government:

work with industry to provide a skilled workforce to enhance
the NSW mining industry's international competitiveness;

commit to investing in the availability, accessibility and
promotion of geosciences information to current and potential
explorers in Australia and overseas;

work with researchers and industry to fund research in deep
cover exploration, mining operations productivity and low emission
energy technology; and

work with the Commonwealth Government to boost the
competitiveness of the freight network available in NSW.

Importance of the Action Plan

The Taskforce notes that:

NSW coal production is set to fall without significant
investment to expand existing mines and develop new ones; and

the production of no-coal resources will also fall sharply
without an increase in mineral exploration – specifically,
six of the State's 12 large-scale mines are expected to close
between 2021 and 2027.

1The other taskforces cover agriculture,
creative industries, the digital economy, international education
and research, manufacturing, professional services and the visitor
economy.

Clayton Utz communications are intended to provide
commentary and general information. They should not be relied upon
as legal advice. Formal legal advice should be sought in particular
transactions or on matters of interest arising from this bulletin.
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